Exclusive (seriously exclusive & candid) Bacary Sagna interview

So today’s post has been taken care of by Bacary Sagna. He is an ambassador for the Charity Grassroot Soccer. They use the power of football to teach kids to make the right decisions in life. I met Nik Haigh, the European Director of the charity in Covent Garden a few months ago and I loved the concept of using the positive message of football to help create an AIDS free generation.

The fact that this Charity has Bobby Pires and Alex Song gives it even more appeal. They’re not a big flashy organisation but they are passionate about what they do. All three of the Arsenal players are desperate to do whatever they can to promote the cause and they all do it for free… something I know first hand can’t be said of other ambassadors.

Anyway, do check out the links and share this article around. It’s a very candid interview and I want to say a bit thanks to Nik Haigh for making this happen.

Enjoy! (Bear in mind, these questions were sent before the Spurs game!)

You’re back in the team and playing well again. How confident are you about Arsenal making top four this season?

I am feeling confident. We had a slow start to the season. The players were just as frustrated as the fans. But, with hard work we turned things around. Playing together on a regular basis has helped a lot.

Who are the key players who make the team work well?

Robin Van Persie is a strong leader. He has had a really big impact on the team this season on and off the pitch. He is a role model for everyone. Thomas Vermaelen is a warrior. He demonstrates through his actions that if in life if you want something you have to fight every day for it. Just look at the run he made to score the winner against Newcastle.

Do you think we have a chance of overturning Spurs?

Yes, done!

The defense has come under heavy criticism this year. What is the club working on in training to rectify the problems?

We work on training every day. We progress day by day, game by game. We want to be the best. To be the best you must improve every day. After every game I replay in my mind certain moments. I try to learn from my mistakes.

Who is the best player you’ve ever trained with and why?

Fabregas: he was just born to play football. He is so talented; his ability to pass the ball is second to none.

Out of the Arsenal greats, who is you favorite former Arsenal player?

Robert Pirès: not because he is French and not because he is a Grassroot Soccer Ambassador! I love his creativity. He is also very determined. Due to an injury he didn’t go to World Cup 2002, and that year he won Player of the Season at the PFA awards. It was a tough moment but he came back from it. He didn’t give up. His actions inspired me this season to make my return.

How was it to have Thierry Henry back at the club for his brief stint?

“Magic”. It was a Christmas gift to Arsenal. Everyone learned a lot from him. Right from the first game he inspired everyone.

You’re widely regarded as the best right back in the league. Outside Arsenal players, which defender do you admire the most and why?

Rio Ferdinand: he is a very smart player, very clever in how he positions himself on the pitch. You have to be clever to play at such a high level consistently over many years.

Which part of your game do you work on the hardest?

Defense: I am a defender so I have to defend first. I always want to play the perfect game. That way I can help to put the team in a place to win.

Who is you biggest supporter?

My dad has always been a big supporter. He and I speak after every match. We have been doing this since I was a boy. Back then I was a striker. Even in matches where I scored three goals he would tell me what I did wrong and how I could improve. I was not looking forward to talking with him after the Wigan match! When I was a kid I almost stopped playing soccer. I started to get distracted by things my friends were doing. My dad helped me to stay focused.

You’re an ambassador to Grassroot Soccer. What attracted you to the project?

I lost someone close to me. It focused my mind and made me want to give back – I realize how important projects like Grassroot Soccer are. You always hear about charities, but not often do you feel a personal connection to one. I’ve been to Africa lots since I was a kid. I have seen many kids and people suffering. I want to show my support for them. I want them to know that we share things in common. I went to school too and I am still learning like them. We are on the same team, the Grassroot Soccer team.

Were you attracted because the charity uses soccer?

It was not just about soccer. Although I like that soccer is part of the solution. It was because Grassroot Soccer works. They have respected supporters, such as the Gates Foundation. And they partners with schools, hospitals and local leaders. I always look to associate with people I respect. I very much respect the people who run Grassroot Soccer. One of the founders is Methembe Ndlovu. I have spent some time with him. He played on the Zimbabwe National team. He has now dedicated his life to helping children in his country as the director of Grassroot Soccer Zimbabwe.

Methembe Ndlovu, Grassroot Soccer Founder with Sagna

What is your role for the Charity?

I am an Ambassador for Grassroot Soccer. I do as much as I can. I am no different from anyone else involved in the charity. I attend board meetings and give my feedback on how the charity can improve. It is like a team, we are always trying to get better and provide the youth participants with the best support possible. I am very proud to be part of Grassroot Soccer.

How can we help?

You can all help by raising awareness for Grassroot Soccer through twitter and your social networks. You can give money to support our work: www.grassrootsoccer.org. You can also play sport – Grassroot Soccer is all about encouraging young people to be active and make healthy, responsible decisions on and off the pitch.

With Eboue now at Galatasaray, who is the funniest person in the dressing room?

Alex Song: he is very easygoing and funny. He is always smiling and having fun with the players. But, when the game starts he is focused and works so hard. He covers a lot of ground. He is also an Ambassador for Grassroot Soccer.

Which players do you socialize with most often?

Kieran Gibbs: we are both young and we get on very well. We train a lot together and have got to know each other better through that.

Johan Djourou: he is from Switzerland and speaks French. He was the first one who chatted with me and supported me when I first arrived at Arsenal – I had very little English when I first arrived.

Which youth team player excites you the most?

Benik-Afobe. He reminds me of Drogba. He is very strong.

Which team do you enjoy playing against the most?

I love playing against Spurs at home: the stadium is on fire, people dancing and singing. For players it’s like magic.

What do you like about playing in England?

The fans are so passionate. I love that. And I love how they stay true to their home clubs. You often see three generations of one family all supporting a club together.

Who is going to win this summer’s European Championship?

Spain will be a tough opponent. So will Germany. And of course we on the French National team will do everything we can to win – we need to express ourselves on the pitch.

What is something fans might not know about you?

I love to play chess. I started playing when I was a kid in school. It is very relaxing.

Many thanks to the people at Grassroot Soccer for providing this interview. If you could do your bit and share this article out on your social platforms, that would be marvellous.

If you’re on Twitter, copy and paste the following.

RT Take a read of Bacary Sagna’s interview on behalf of @Grassrootsoccer http://tinyurl.com/SagnaGrassrootSoccer

You can also give them a follow directly from here by clicking the button below.

Odemwingie isn’t Arsenal quality? Because he’s African? Have you ever watched him play? Chamakh and Park are I believe. He’s way better than the likes of Walcott, Gervinho, Chamakh, Park Chu Noooo, Arshavin, Bendtner. Should I go on?

eedsgunner – It’s not even about appearing suitable to Hazard with our playing style anymore.. Man city if they beat utd, are on hand to win a title and qualify for champions league with a host of world class players and can offer the highest wage packages available, Man utd also with a rich history, they are still living every bit of it, whilst we literally are history, and they are not struggling to make top 4 like we may be doing. Our next two games are of vital importance and must-wins. But if I was Hazard, I would laugh at our mocking low wages offer and would not be crazy enough to contemplate a club in decline. Would anyone in their right mind pick content with 4th Arsenal over these other giants?

Gambon
I know he is wayyyyyyyy better than those you mentioned but do you trust Wenger to admit after one season that Park and Gervinho are chaffs?
Going by recent history, when Wenger signs a player of Podolski’s calibre, its usually to replace a better player not a poor one.
Last player Wenger bought that was better than the incumbent was Sagna(Eboue)

Azed you don’t think he’ll make it or you don’t want him to make it? He’s a fucking German international! He’s already made it.
—————————————————————————————-
I don’t think he would cut it in the EPL..
FFS Park is south korea’s captain, Gervinho is an Ivory coast international, Walnutt is an England international.

I’ve watched whole Lille games objectively. It is safe to say Hazard is often the best player on the pitch , even though his involvement is in flashes. However I don’t rate him as some footballing demi-god.

Podolski good signing. Don’t think it’s intended to be an RVP replacement, rather a signing that may sweeten RVP to sign on. Objective is obviously to get 3rd place wrapped up, sign some players and get RVP’s signature before Euros. Lot of work still to be done.

For £45 million we could have a front 3 of Podolski-RVP-Hazard. That alone would scare any team in the world including the likes of Madrid/Barca. Unfortunately, our manager is a cheap cunt and will sacrifice the signing the likes of Hazard and go sign someon from the French Ligue 2 a la Park Chu. Fucking wanker

We need proven players. Granted that will usually mean older players but notnecessarily. For me Yann M’vila will be a huge statement of intent for us because from the glimpse I’ve seen of him playing for France he is becoming a talisman for their national side. The whole Hazard saga is a farce from beginning to finish and IMO can be placed beside the C. Ronaldo as a catastrophic missed opportunity for our club.

For fucks sake we sign a 1 in 2 German international, a 26 year old with experience and a hammer of a left foot and it’s moan moan moan.
Even if rvp does go at least we will have started to put some fire power in place and if he doesn’t I expect defences might quake a little more than when they see onion head lining up.
Gambin If wenger took you to a whore house and bought you a blowy you’d still be unhappy. We all feel like arsenal suck a bit at the moment but it ain’t all bad

Pedro to be fair to Geoff he was only reacting to years of psychological abuse meted out by the AFC board and AW come every transfer window/ season ticket renewal season. Can a leopard change his spots… Albeit a French one?

Are you arse licking to get on there? It looks they hand selected a load of positive tweets. I hate that if their going to post tweets take them in their natural form the good with the bad. That’s no slight on you unless your an AKB?

@Pedro Great post. Enjoyed reading Sagna’s interview. I had no idea he was a striker in a previous life. If we had a player in every position with his level of commitment and endeavour, we’d be challenging for trophies every season! You may have to clarify which came first though; the interview or the game against Spurs.
As far as our remaining games are concerned, Wenger and the team know what to do – get 6 points and we stay third, regardless of whether or not Chelsea, Newcastle and Spurs slip up. Arsene’s weak mentality has infected many of the fans (like gazzap) who’s shamelessly hoping our rivals slip up when we know exactly what to do.

Is Odemwingle available now on the cheap since Hodgson’s on his way to the Euros? I rate him as a proven Premiership player… Would be a useful option to bring on when we are chasing for the win… Better than Chamakh like the other match against Stoke for goodness sake!!!

Someone earlier said we’r getting Holtby? I haven’t seen no links or anything about this all season

Its obvious we need a AM because Rosicky gets tired after 70mins and he’s on the wrong side of 30 and Ramsey is not up to it. We need an AM who can run at players with pace and the player who will come to us if we offer £20m is BenArfa…..some of his goals this season have been immense!!!!

Gambon i would normally agree with most of what you have to say but the city ass licking baffles me. Sticking up for balotelli the man who has never heard of jack wilshire and tried to end sagna’s career, not to mention the rest, and by the way the story about the homeless man turned out to be false. Sticking up for nasri ? Wouldn’t know were to start there. And yes all teams do tap up but city along with barca take the piss. Arsenal are a successful club, we expect to win trophies as we have a tradition of winning. City don’t, ya’d think their support would be more grateful. 7 years without a trophy and watch wenger slowly destroy our club and we still fill the emirates most weeks

One way to guarantee RvP’s signature for the next little while — get his recommendation on who he would like at the club and build the team around him… Why not? Is it too simplistic way to looking at this. Clearly he’s holding out to see who the club brings in before he signs. Just a thought.

Sorry I personally don’t see the point in constructing cliched negative scenarios like that. it hasn’t happened, so what are you striving to achieve exactly? a point thats already been made 3000 times over the past 4 years?

if what your suggesting comes to pass I’ll be happy to moan about it, until then its pointless constructing these vignettes just so you can claim ‘I told you so’, because its all been said before.

Podolski is a fast, powerful striker who can also play on the left wing. His pace makes him a threat to play in crosses, but he is most naturally at home in the centre, where his cannon of a left foot and lethal finishing can best be showcased. He failed at Bayern when he was younger, and it is quite clear that he needs motivation and emotional investment to succeed: it was his love for his hometown of Koln that made him a massive success. But with his side struggling and his age only increasing, the 26-year-old had little choice but to move. Arsenal are a good fit for him, and he could be a great success there. And for Arsene Wenger, the move is perfect: the trainer gains just what he has been looking for in a versatile attacker who can serve as a reliable secondary scorer alongside Robin van Persie

I mean with Shava theres a case to be made about his lack of stamina and AW’s Euro comments and Gadzidis wanting to make a name for himself but that powerplay seems to have been settled during the season. IG has had nothing to say all season really, he’s kind of dropped off the radar. If you compare this time last season he was all over the press…

you might be right but think we’d need more evidence than the farce of last summer.

Lurch Le Rouge
if what your suggesting comes to pass I’ll be happy to moan about it, until then its pointless constructing these vignettes just so you can claim ‘I told you so’, because its all been said before.

Reply
I asked a question,any other rational person would ask,given wenger’s track record..

The whole point of raising such a question/scenario was for this signing to be taking in context..

If you re-read the question..?

Either way,my point was let’s see at the end of the transfer dealing window,whether vast improvements have been made in the transfer window.If so then in line with what you said..£11m for Poldoski would be a cracking deal

As far as I’m concerned one swallow,does not make a summer..

PS
Trust me,it would not be claiming according to you “I-told you so..”,come 31st Aug 2012,if it turns out that the Poldoski deal was the only noteworthy signing..
Far from it…I would just pity the individuals that continue to give wenger the benefit of the doubt,every season…,every transfer window..
It would appear,that history would have taught some of us nothing..

I think they’re just trying to boost season tickets renewal. Scammers! When they hit the target, Wenger shuts up shop, then wiggles his nose at you on camera and tell you how ‘difficult’ it is to get ‘quality’ players at the right price…!

it was a statement veiled as a question sure, but I don’t see the ‘rational’ quota in it.

It was a typically glass half empty rhetorical question. It answered itself by simple virtue of it tone, so you weren’t really asking me anything at all but making a statement to the effect of cynical scenario that I can’t be arsed getting dragged into, i’m already bored writing this much if I’m honest.

no offence but I’d rather celebrate the fact that we’ve got a great new player in the squad than use it as the proverbial albatross to stone Wenger with.

Lurch Le Rouge
Fair enough,but my ire is no longer directed at wenger,if you’ve followed my posts over the past few days..
& I was not attempting to get involved in some verbal diarrohea spat about the poldoski signing..

So,if my question irked you somewhat..

I could phrase it another way,so as not to gatecrash your party..

With the poldoski signing & Pepe & Usmanov coming in as manager & owner respectively..Could we realistically challenge for the title(s) next season?

Yeah,then I would have something to spazz over & be in glorious heaven..

Irked? I couldn’t be cooler if my sack was sat in a bucket of ice, so nothing’s been gatecrashed SDE, this is what we do here.

Alas I’m not up to speed with your posts, if im not posting it means im not here. I don’t sit around reading comments and not engaging, that would be a bit weird no? akin to voyeurism. All I can do is respond to the text put in front of me, as for verbal diarrhea? some might argue your well skilled in the art, but like most things it comes down to perspective doesn’t it.

as for superAli? nothing I’d like more than the fat oligarch to swoop down from on high…

as for Hodgson, he’s a good coach – he’s doesn’t put fear into his opponents though and I don’t think he’ll have broad enough shoulders when the doubters get on his back, as they certainly will. Lacks the singular force of will required to be a top manager I think.

I do think we (the lions) have a pretty good squad though so I’m condident of quarter finals, semi’s at the most.

kwik fit
So the FA have dropped another clanger (remember Brian clough) and gone for the easy option. Not a ball between them. A little like the board at Arsenal.

Reply
I don’t think they dropped a clanger..
In fact Harry made it easy for them..
The england job,is more than just a coaching role..It’s also a management role,where you are an ambassador representing the nation,or country..
And if a potential manager,came out & said,he can’t read,can’t write & does not know how to work a computer..

What are you supposed to do ,as an Employer..?
Hire him?

If Capello,came out with that nonsense,I’m sorry the press would have had a field day& laughed him out of the country..He would lose credibility from this side of the pond anyway..

Roy reminds me of Steve (don’t toss my hair) McLaren. I don’t think he will have the full support or respect of the players . Rosey Redknapp has both and would have provided the England team with something different. With Roy it’s going to be the same old…..